German Immigration

During the past two centuries, Germany has undergone a process of change from an emigration country into an immigration country. However, this process was far from continuous; instead, it was marked by several political and economic ruptures that influenced migration from and to Germany. German immigration is understood as both the immigration of German natives into other countries and the immigration of foreign-born people into Germany.

Estimations account for roughly 150 million people worldwide who have German ancestors. According to the 2010 U.S. census, around 47.9 million of them live in the United States, accounting for roughly 15 percent of the U.S. American population. In contrast, 80.8 million people currently live in Germany (2013), whereof 20 percent have a background as migrants, that is, they or ...